美国国家公共电台 NPR--Fed chief Jerome Powell is under pressure to curb inflation

Fed chief Jerome Powell is under pressure to curb¹ inflation

Transcript²

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell speaks Friday morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell hopes to curb inflation without pushing the economy into recession.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said today the central bank's overarching focus is to curb inflation. And Powell left no doubt that he and his colleagues will keep raising interest rates until they're confident that prices are under control. Powell delivered a forceful speech to a gathering³ of economic bigwigs in Jackson Hole, Wyo. He acknowledged that rising interest rates come at a cost for families and businesses, but Powell warned the alternative of unchecked inflation could be worse. NPR's chief economic correspondent Scott Horsley joins us now. Scott, Powell's message this morning was short and direct. What did he have to say?

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁴: It was very short. Powell spoke⁵ for less than 10 minutes, and it was very direct. He said the Fed has an unconditional⁶ responsibility to bring down inflation and that he and his colleagues are committed to doing that, even if there is some short-term pain involved in the shape of slower economic growth and possibly higher unemployment. You know, it was another Fed chairman, Paul Volcker, who spoke at the first Jackson Hole conference back in 1982. And by the time Volcker took charge of the Fed, the U.S. had already gone through more than a decade of failed, often halfhearted efforts to control inflation. By that time, people had gotten so used to soaring prices that it took a really severe recession for Volcker to turn things around. Now, Powell and his colleagues hope to avoid a recession like that, but Powell says that means not moving in fits and starts but rather taking a firm stance against inflation right now.

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JEROME POWELL: We are taking forceful and rapid steps to moderate demand so that it comes into better alignment⁷ with supply and to keep inflation expectations anchored. We will keep at it until we're confident the job is done.

HORSLEY: At some point, Powell said, it will be appropriate to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes. But he made it clear we're not there yet.

MART?NEZ: OK. Now, the Fed's have been raising interest rates up pretty aggressively. How high are rates likely to go?

HORSLEY: Clearly higher than they are right now. Remember, the Fed kept interest rates near zero through much of the pandemic. But since March, the central bank has raised rates by 2 1/4 percentage points. Now, another rate hike's expected at the next policy meeting in September. And investors⁸ have been going back and forth⁹ about whether they expect another three-quarter percentage point increase like we saw in June and July, or if they think the Fed might slow down a bit and raise rates by only half a point like it did in May. Powell did not offer a lot of guidance on that this morning. But keep in mind, even a half-point increase would be large by ordinary standards. And you can already see the effects of this policy in the housing market. This week, mortgage rates jumped back above 5 1/2%. A year ago, you could have a mortgage for less than 3%. And those rising borrowing costs are starting to put the brakes on both new and existing home sales. They're making it more expensive to get car loans and also to carry a balance on your credit card.

MART?NEZ: Now, Powell and his colleagues have said they're going to be flexible as new information about the economy comes in. And we have new information today.

HORSLEY: That's right. Shortly before Powell spoke, the Commerce Department released its report on July inflation. And according to the department's yardstick¹⁰, which is watched closely by the Federal Reserve, consumer prices actually fell by a 10th of a percent between June and July. That's largely thanks to falling gasoline prices. If you take out gas and food prices, which tend to bounce around a lot, core prices have risen 4.6% over the last 12 months. That's the smallest increase in nine months. So it's an encouraging sign that inflation may be cooling, but Powell is not sounding complacent¹¹.

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POWELL: While the lower inflation readings for July are certainly welcome, a single month's improvement falls far short of what the committee will need to see before we are confident that inflation is moving down.

HORSLEY: And the prospect¹² of rising interest rates is weighing on the stock market. Right now, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 500 points.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Scott Horsley. Thanks, Scott.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

7 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 yardstick   

n.计算标准，尺度；评价标准

参考例句：

• This is a yardstick for measuring whether a person is really progressive.这是衡量一个人是否真正进步的标准。
• She was a yardstick against which I could measure my achievements.她是一个我可以用来衡量我的成就的准绳。

11 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

12 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。